PM Oli’s policies among reasons for hold-up in key Nepal study

Nepalese Prime Minister K P Sharma Oli’s anti-India policies are among the reasons why an Eminent Persons Group formed in 2016 to revisit the 1950 Nepal-India Treaty of Peace and Friendship is yet to submit its report to the governments of the two countries despite it being ready almost two years ago, peoplefamiliar with the matter said.

The group was formed following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with Oli in 2016 to suggest ways for consolidating and transforming the India-Nepal relationship. The treaty is the basis of the free cross-border movement between the two countries as well as their collaboration including on matters of defence.

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“It [the report] was supposed to be submitted to PM Modi first [in 2018] and then to the Nepalese side. But there were too many issues that cropped up,” said a government functionary who spoke on condition of anonymity.

A second person aware of the matter said, also on condition of anonymity, that the group suggested a revision of the treaty “in line with the changed context” and with more focus on “the social and cultural linkages”.

Oli on Sunday accused India of conspiring to topple him for publishing Nepal’s new map that depicts Lipulekh, Kalapani, and Limpiyadhura (all part of India’s Uttarakhand)as part of the Nepalese territory. The map has triggered tensions between the two countries with India calling the move an “artificial enlargement of territorial claims”. India has maintained the onus was on Nepal to create a positive atmosphere for talks to resolve the border row.

Oli’s accusation came amid factional rivalry within the ruling Nepal Communist Party.

Asked whether the group had specific recommendations about the border issue, the second person said the group’s mandate did not cover it. “ The idea was to ensure that the borders are open, allowing for more people-to-people contact. The idea was to insulate ties from political vicissitudes.”

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Jawaharlal Nehru University professor Mahendra P Lama, who was a member of the group, said the recommendations in the report were arrived at through consensus and there was no controversy. “The report addresses the aspirations of both the nations and covered a gamut of aspects such as cross open border engagement, trade, transit, investment, climate change, natural resources, culture, institutions, financial cooperation, national security, migration, trafficking, water, energy, and even a pandemic situation,” he said. “It all aimed at consolidating and transforming the relationship to suit the requirements for the 21st century.”

Lama confirmed the report was finalised in July 2018.

The other members of the group from India included former Uttarakhand chief minister Bhagat Singh Koshyari, who is now the Maharashtra governor, former ambassador Jayant Prasad, and the late B C Upreti, who was then a senior fellow with think-tank Vivekananda Foundation.

Members from Nepal include Thapa, Nilambar Acharya, Suryanath Upadhyay and Rajan Bhattarai.

V K Singh, the then minister of state for external affairs, told Parliament in July 2018 that the group was yet to submit its report to the two governments. He added it was to submit its recommendations at the end of its two-year term. Singh said the group had held nine meetings since July 2016 and last met in Kathmandu in June 2018. Singh’s successor, V Muraleedharan, echoed the former in Parliament in December 2019.

The external affairs ministry did not respond to questions on the status of the report.